The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a transistor used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. Although the MOSFET is a four-terminal device with source (S), gate (G), drain (D), and body (B) terminals, the body (or substrate) of the MOSFET often is connected to the source terminal, making it a three-terminal device like other field-effect transistors. Because these two terminals are normally connected to each other (short-circuited) internally, only three terminals appear in electrical diagrams. The MOSFET is by far the most common transistor in both digital and analog circuits, though the bipolar junction transistor was at one time much more common.
In enhancement mode MOSFETs, a voltage drop across the oxide induces a conducting channel between the source and drain contacts via the field effect. The term "enhancement mode" refers to the increase of conductivity with increase in oxide field that adds carriers to the channel, also referred to as the inversion layer. The channel can contain electrons (called an nMOSFET or nMOS), or holes (called a pMOSFET or pMOS), opposite in type to the substrate, so nMOS is made with a p-type substrate, and pMOS with an n-type substrate (see article on semiconductor devices). In the less common depletion mode MOSFET, described further later on, the channel consists of carriers in a surface impurity layer of opposite type to the substrate, and conductivity is decreased by application of a field that depletes carriers from this surface layer.
The 'metal' in the name MOSFET is now often a misnomer because the previously metal gate material is now often a layer of polysilicon (polycrystalline silicon). Aluminium had been the gate material until the mid 1970s, when polysilicon became dominant, due to its capability to form self-aligned gates. Metallic gates are regaining popularity, since it is difficult to increase the speed of operation of transistors without metal gates.
Likewise, the 'oxide' in the name can be a misnomer, as different dielectric materials are used with the aim of obtaining strong channels with applied smaller voltages.
An insulated-gate field-effect transistor or IGFET is a related term almost synonymous with MOSFET. The term may be more inclusive, since many "MOSFETs" use a gate that is not metal, and a gate insulator that is not oxide. Another synonym is MISFET for metal–insulator–semiconductor FET.
The basic principle of the field-effect transistor was first patented by Julius Edgar Lilienfeld in 1925.
Read more about MOSFET: Composition, Circuit Symbols, History, CMOS Circuits, MOSFET Scaling, MOSFET Analog Switch